The New Empress: New Clues, New Motives

Sunlight filtered through the window and I felt its warmth. I woke up to a handsome face beside me. The events of last night were more than I can handle. I caressed his face and his eyelashes fluttered as he opened his eyes. 

“Good morning.” I smiled. His arms were still wrapped around me. He pulled me even closer to him.

“We should get up.” I said. I tried to pull myself away but he wrapped me tighter in his arms. I giggled.

“My Emperor, we should get up. We’ll be going back to the Palace, remember?” He loosened his grip. He tilted his head and met my gaze. He gave me a peck on the lips and I smiled. We sat up but I forgot that I didn’t have any clothes on. I pulled the blanket up to cover my breasts. He looked at me, confused.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“I don’t have any clothes on.” I blushed. He stood up and grabbed my robe from the floor and handed it to me. He wasn’t wearing anything and I could see his naked body. I covered my eyes. 

“Why are you covering your eyes?” Why? Because I’ll be tempted, that’s why. 

“Uh, because you’re naked.” I peeked at him but he was still not covering his body. 

“You have seen me naked multiple times. Why is this time any different?” It’s because I’m not your empress. I’m just an innocent girl from the 21st century who happens to have no experience with the male anatomy. Apart from last night, that is. I wore my robe and stood up. Sora also wore his robe. Sora called for the servants to serve breakfast. We ate very quickly and prepared to leave. 

The carriage was waiting for us. Sora climbed on and helped me up. We were seated fairly close to each other. It had me thinking how much our relationship has grown for just 3 days. 

“When we get back, do I still have to serve you in your study?” He looked at me and nodded.

“Yes, I need to keep my eyes on you.” I raised my eyebrow.

“Why?” He shrugged and poked my forehead.

“Because you seem to attract unwanted dangers. I can’t let you get hurt again.” I rubbed my forehead.

“Are you worried about me?” I teased. He averted my gaze. I could see his ears turning red.

“I just don’t want you getting hurt. That’s all.” You can’t hide your feelings forever. 

We arrived back at the palace sometime before noon. Aino and Yukio were waiting for us. Sora and I stepped down and Yukio ran towards us.

“Mama! Papa! I’ve missed you.” I carried him and planted kisses all over his face.

“I missed you too. Have you been a good boy?” He nodded. We walked inside the Palace but were immediately greeted by the other concubines.

“Welcome back your majesty.” They all bowed to him. Sora signaled for them to stop bowing. 

“How was your trip, your majesty?” Lady Hiwa asked. Sora didn’t answer her. He walked past them and went inside. Serves you right. I’m his favorite now. Hiwa, Aiyo and Ima looked at me menacingly. Jealous much. 

“Empress Yukina, tell us all about your trip.” I was still carrying Yukio in my arms. 

“I’ll tell you later. It’s too inappropriate for young minds.” They were all shocked. They quickly rushed away from me. Aino and I looked at each other and laughed. 

“What happened to them, Mama?” Yukio asked. I shook my head.

“Nothing you should worry about, sweet pea. How about we go inside and have some lunch.” He nodded and we went inside to the dining hall. Sora went back to work immediately. He didn’t have time to eat his lunch so I decided to bring his lunch to him. Yukio and I prepared his lunch and we made our way to his study. We knocked on the door first and he let us in. 

“We brought you lunch.” I said. Yukio brought the plate to him and he took it. 

“Thank you.” He said. But he was too engrossed in his work that he ignored his food. Yukio pulled my sleeve and asked me to stoop down to his level. He whispered into my ear.

“You should feed Papa. He’s too busy to feed himself.” 

“Eh… but…” Yukio shook his head and pointed at Sora. I sighed. This kid is trying to play matchmaker. I went over to Sora’s desk and took the plate from the table. I took a piece of fish and placed it in front of him. He looked at the chopsticks in my hand and then looked at me.

“What are you doing?” He asked. 

“I’m feeding you since you’re so busy. You need to eat too, you know.” He raised his eyebrow.

“Say ahh.” He opened his mouth and I fed him the piece of fish. Yukio giggled and I looked over to him. He seemed pretty pleased seeing his mom feeding his dad. Sora continued with his work while I fed him his lunch. After feeding Sora, I went back to the kitchen and washed the plate. I was stopped by one of the servants.

“Your majesty, you shouldn’t wash those. Let me wash them for you.” I shook my head.

“It’s okay. It’s just one plate.” The servant looked at me.

“I don’t believe what they say about you your majesty. I think you are a very nice person.” She smiled at me.

“Thank you. What’s your name?” She handed me a towel to wipe my hands with.

“My name is Karin.” 

“Nice to meet you Karin. I’m glad you think of me like that.” She smiled at me.

“I hear nasty things from the other ladies. They all think badly of you. Even when you had that accident. I believe one of them had something to do with it.” I raised my eyebrow.

“Why do you say that?” She looked around the room to see if someone was listening to us.

“A few days before your accident, I heard someone talking about getting rid of you. I heard her say that she wanted the Emperor to herself and that she needed you gone.” I gasped.

“Do you know who said that?” She shook her head.

“I was ordered by Lady Tsuya at the time and I couldn’t see who was talking. When I went back to check, I found no one. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you your majesty. I wanted to but it seemed that I was kept busy.” She was the only one who knew yet she was kept busy so she wouldn’t be able to tell me. Someone who planned to kill me must’ve found out that this servant knew something so she prevented her from telling me. 

“If I may ask, who did you serve?” She glanced around once more.

“At the time, I was serving Lady Tsuya but I was also serving Lady Tori because her personal maid was sick and could not fulfill her duties so I had to step in.” She was serving two ladies at the same time. That’s why she was so busy. Wait a minute, if Tori’s servant was sick that day, how did she witness me being pushed? 

“One last thing, at the time of my drowning, did you happen to know where Lady Tsuya and Lady Tori were?” She looked to the right. A sign of someone telling the truth.

“I remember Lady Tsuya was having tea with the Emperor that day. As for Lady Tori, she was in the garden.” Both stories check out. Then who could've done it?

“Thank you Karin. I appreciate your honesty.” She bowed to me and left. I went to the pantry and prepared tea for Sora. This time, I made green tea with honey. I went back to the study. Yukio wasn’t there anymore but Sora was still hard at work.

“Where’s Yukio?” I set the tea down in front of him.

“He said he was going back to his room to practice his calligraphy.” I giggled.

“Why does he want to practice all of a sudden?” I sat in one of the chairs. Sora took a sip of his tea before answering.

“He said he wanted to be as good as his mama.” That kid is really something. Sora looked disappointed.

“What’s with your face?” He looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” He asked. Oh wait, I get it.

“Are you jealous?” He looked surprised.

“Why would I be jealous?” I grinned.

“Because Yukio wanted to be as good as me but he didn’t say anything about you.” He looked away but his ears were turning red. Gotcha! 

“That’s ridiculous. Why would I be jealous of that?” He pouted. I started to laugh. I went over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. I whispered in his ears.

“You don’t have to be jealous about that. Even Yukio can see that your calligraphy is better than mine. He’s just saying that because it’s the first time he’s seen my work.” He sighed and held my hand. He pulled me towards him, making me sit on his lap.

“Your presence affects me and Yukio so much, in more ways than you think.” I smiled. I looked over at his desk and read a letter about an attack in the Northern border. My eyes widened. I grabbed the paper and read it thoroughly.

“There’s been an attack at the border? What’s happening over there?” I looked at Sora and he sighed.

“It seemed that there were survivors from the war who are seeking revenge. They’re trying to attack the border to get in.” I looked worried.

“What measures have you taken?” He looked at the paper.

“Nothing yet. I only received the letter this morning.” I slammed the paper down on the desk.

“Then you should send out my father and brothers to lead the army in protecting the border.” He looked at me, stunned. I took out a map of the kingdom from his desk.

“The northern border is over 100 km. If you station my brothers here and here, and my father will lead the front lines, there will be no chance for the attackers to enter. Assuming the attacking group is far less than the previous group, there will be no problem.” I pointed to various spots on the map. I didn’t know tactical planning was so much fun. It’s like a game of chess. I looked over my shoulder and saw Sora looking surprised.

“That is brilliant my empress. It appears that you have substantial knowledge of planning. You even thought about possible entrance for the enemy and have taken precautionary measures. I’m impressed.” I blushed. 

“It seems that I have much to learn about you.” He said while smiling.

“This was nothing. It’s not something to get your head wrapped around. But do you agree with my plans?” He nodded. He wrote a letter addressed to my father. They’ll be preparing for battle in a few days. After Sora wrote the letter, he set it aside.

“Aren’t you going to send that out?” He shook his head.

“How can I if you’re sitting on my lap?” I immediately realized that I was still sitting on his lap. I was about to get up when he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back.

“What are you doing?” I asked. He didn’t say anything. I turned to him and saw that he was smiling. 

“What are you smiling about?” I cupped his face in my hands. He didn’t answer me. I gazed into his eyes. We inched closer and closer until I could feel his warm breath on my face. Suddenly, the door flew open and I immediately stood up and took a few steps away from Sora. My face feels hot.

“Emperor Sora, I’m sorry for barging in like that.” It was Tori. 

“What is your purpose?” She walked over to his desk and placed a cup of tea on it.

“I made tea for your majesty, Empress Yukina.”  Sora clearly looks upset. Before he could say anything, I spoke.

“Thank you for this Tori-chan.” I pulled the tea closer. She looked at me and smiled.

“You may take your leave.” Sora answered coldly. Tori frowned. She looked at me before turning on her heel and leaving the room. I noticed something odd with the tea she brought. She put petals on top of the tea. Those petals look awfully familiar. 

I took a whiff of the tea and immediately knew what it was.

This is wisteria. A type of flower that could make you faint. Its leaves aren’t that poisonous but it’ll be enough to bring you down. Why would she want to poison me?

“Aren’t you going to drink it?” Sora asked. He took a sip from his green tea. I shook my head.

“May I go to my room? I have something I wish to do.” He nodded. I took the tea and went to my room. Aino was inside replacing the sheets.

“Aino, please throw this tea away. But be discreet.” She nodded and took the cup from my hand. She came back after a few minutes. 

“Why did you want to throw away that tea, Yukina?” I sat down on the bed.

“It was poisoned.” Aino looked surprised.

“Poisoned? Who could’ve poisoned it?” I shushed her. 

“Keep your voice down. Tori gave it to me.” Tori has been acting strange. Or maybe I’m overthinking things and she didn’t mean to brew wisteria. I have to ask her myself. 

“What? Why would she poison you?” I shrugged.

“I don’t know but I’ll go there right now and ask her.” I stood up and left the room. I made my way to Tori’s room. I knocked on the door and her maid answered. 

“Come in Yukina nee-chan.” I stepped inside and sat down by the table.

“That tea you gave me was delicious Tori-chan. What was it?” She looked to the left. She’s lying.

“It’s a flower I found in the garden. I thought it looked pretty and it smelled good too. So I decided to brew a few petals. I’m glad you liked them.” She smiled. 

“Did you get a chance to taste it?” She nodded. 

“Yes, but I didn’t like it all that much. But I’m glad that you did.” I smiled at her. She’s clearly lying. She knows what that flower was yet she still brewed it and gave it to me. What are you hiding Tori? 

“Well, since I like the taste so much, I came all the way here to thank you.” She smiled. I stood up and turned on my heel.

“Well, I have to go back. Thank you again Tori-chan.” I waved goodbye and left her room. 

I’ll find out what you’re up to Tori and I will stop you.